Citroen DS3 1.6 THP 115kW reliability question

[robertjinx]

Hello, first, I'm new to the forum and to Citroen.

Had before french cars, but not Citroen and would like to buy a second hand Citroen DS3 1.6 THP 115kW from probably 2011-2012 with around 30000 miles max on the odometer, but today I've been talking to a mechanic and was very negativistic about the 1.6 THP engine.
Does anybody had/have issues with this engine? The mechanic told me that its not very reliable and there will be problems with the timing belt or timing chain as its not really a belt.

I don't wanna go buy something which will cost me a fortune to fix all the time, but I do really like the DS3, it's really nice and watches some reviews from different magazines and they where quite positive.


Any tips or any info would be really welcomed.

Thanks!

[V3nn3tj3]

If it had it timing belt replaced under warranty, you shouldn't worry. A few mistakes were made and they fixed them... Remember that the engine base is almost 10 years old.
I have a 2010 THP 150 and it's been a nightmare. Have replaced the HPFP, ecu, bsi, bsm, had the clean the valves, going to replace complete timing set, etc. But some don't have any problems.

[WTF]

Hi there

Online, there is a lot of negative reviews - BUT people will often seek out help so we do hear about problems. The same as the mechanic, he will only see cars that have a fault. That said the Ratio of troublesome THP's Vs the rest of the DS3 range points towards lots of faults and few easy fixes.

There are of course trouble free THP's! But read all you hear and read with a pinch of salt

Reviews are good for the car, but this will be based on the consumer attractions rather than the build quality and engine reliability.

Does the car you are looking at come with any warranty? From a garage/dealership if buying from there.

[robertjinx]

The car is from a dealer, but not a Citroen dealer, some second-hand lot. It's from 2012 (according to the page), has 26200km on the dash and thats about it.

I don't have more info, the car looks like new, but I worry also because it only has 26200km and its from 2012. This looks like someone had issues and just got rid of it fast or someone didnt use it.

I wouldn't really know and been talking to a lot of people and the reviews are bad. Out of 10-20 people, I only saw 2 people not complaining about this car and one of them had the HDI engine

I wanna do over 5000km road trip, so I need something that is somewhat reliable.

[robertjinx]

P.S. this is the car: http://www.cars.cz/xchanger/custom/b...69714509615436

The page is in Czech, but I think the base idea can be understood.

[BenS]

If you do buy it, take it for a walnut blast straight away and get them to check cam alignment and timing chain while there since they'll be taking the top off the engine. That should clear up 3 potential issues right away.

[trotters]

I've owned my 2013 THP for just over a year now. I returned it to the dealer 6 times under warranty and they failed to fix everything I reported.

It seems non-Citroen dealers will really struggle to fix any problems with this car (or at least the one I found did). If I followed BenS advice above I'd of saved myself so much time and money!

[Markymark]

Regular oil changes 6000miles & a weekly oil check making sure it is up to maximum as the timing chain tensioner is operated via oil pressure hence will be slack if low on oil

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[grcarvalho]

1 more person that has not had a problem.

I own one that is 165 hp (not sure how much it is in kw), it is with 24.000 km (2015) now and i never had a single problem with it, neither my friends who had it, and here in my country the gasoline has 25% of its composition made of ethanol (that is a problem for some imported vehicles), our roads are not good and flat as the european ones.
Also, here citroen and peugeot are using this engine (the ethanol version of it now with 175 hp) and also BMW (mini cooper S, etc...) was using it untill 2015, they changed to the 2.0 when they opened the factory here in my country.
Well, i said all that just to mention that here i never heard a bad word talking about those THP engines, on the contrary, a lot of people buy the DS3 here as it accept well changes doing on the ecu.
So, unless the previous owner did not took a good care of it, changed the oil on the right time, etc. i do not see a problem.

[WTF]

I own one that is 165 hp (not sure how much it is in kw), it is with 24.000 km (2015) now and i never had a single problem with it, neither my friends who had it, and here in my country the gasoline has 25% of its composition made of ethanol (that is a problem for some imported vehicles), our roads are not good and flat as the european ones.
Also, here citroen and peugeot are using this engine (the ethanol version of it now with 175 hp) and also BMW (mini cooper S, etc...) was using it untill 2015, they changed to the 2.0 when they opened the factory here in my country.
Well, i said all that just to mention that here i never heard a bad word talking about those THP engines, on the contrary, a lot of people buy the DS3 here as it accept well changes doing on the ecu.
So, unless the previous owner did not took a good care of it, changed the oil on the right time, etc. i do not see a problem.

Nice to hear positives

The 165 has been the better of the THP versions.

[Torque plez]

Had mine 5 days. All good so far (touches wooden door)

[mjennings23]

Managed to get my dealer to replace chain and tensioner under warranty, keeping up regular oil changes since then and also had it walnut blasted by Jamie, it wasn't even that bad to start with for a 35k mile car apparently!

No issues with it, in over a year now. Still runs smooth despite being bumped up to 190bhp too!

[Guymar]

Just to give some love to the DS3 THP engine: my wife bought a second hand one 2 years ago with 55tkm on the clock, it is the 155 version, at 50tkm Citroën had replaced the engine (with the new pistons I guess) and my wife added almost 50tkm over the last 26 months - mostly or longer highway runs (400 km+) or stop and go in town. The cars has been utterly reliable, fun to drive and cheap to run. Really incredible. Looking to replace the shocks now (reason for coming back to the forum ) Bilsteins? But which ones? Will keep looking until I find somthing, if some of you guys can point me in the right direction, thanks in advance.

[Guymar]

Just to give some love to the DS3 THP engine: my wife bought a second hand one 2 years ago with 55tkm on the clock, it is the 155 version, at 50tkm Citroën had replaced the engine (with the new pistons I guess) and my wife added almost 50tkm over the last 26 months - mostly or longer highway runs (400 km+) or stop and go in town. The car has been utterly reliable, fun to drive and cheap to run. Really incredible. Looking to replace the shocks now (reason for coming back to the forum ) Bilsteins? But which ones? Will keep looking until I find somthing, if some of you guys can point me in the right direction, thanks in advance.

[cyclone]

Has she been happy with it? Yes? just put original parts back on no reason to change things up if she is ok with the ride. Can't go wrong with Bilsteins IMO. 4 if she is as above. 6 if wants it sportier, 8 if you have lowered the car